Since the Early 1990s, Cancer Researchers have Recognized the Role of Heat GMAT Reading Comprehension

Reading Passage Question

Since the early 1990s, cancer researchers have recognized the role of heat shock proteins (HSPs) in “chaperoning” peptides and assisting the immune system in its constant effort to recognize and destroy diseased cells. Unlike the many illnesses that take advantage of weakened immune systems, cancerous tumors can “trick” an immune system because their cells are derived from normal cells and thus do not elicit a response. It is the task of researchers, then, to identify and isolate unique cancer cell antigens that are more likely to stimulate immune systems to take action. It turns out that members of the HSP60, HSP70, and HSP90 families carry peptides generated within cells; when those HSPs are taken from infected cells, the peptides they carry have similar properties and can spur an immune system into action.

In contrast to the cancer vaccines that rely on antigen-presenting peptides in HSPs, viral vector vaccines are manufactured in the laboratory. Such a vaccine involves manipulating a gene similar to the targeted tumor and injecting it into the patient in an attempt to trigger the immune system to attack not only the manufactured cells but also the cancerous cells already present in the body. Both approaches rest on the assumption that each patient’s tumor is unique and that the vaccine must be created specifically to induce an immune system response. While the first method is better established, the second may turn out to be both more cost-effective and easier to use in treating large numbers of patients.

“Since the Early 1990s, Cancer Researchers have Recognized the Role of Heat” is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.

This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 4 comprehension questions. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed for the purpose of testing candidates’ abilities in understanding, analyzing, and applying information or concepts. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solution and Explanation

1. It can be inferred from the passage that the first type of vaccine described has which of the following drawbacks?

(A) Cells can generate only a limited number of peptides, which limits their ability to stimulate an immune system response.
(B) It is unknown how many different types of cancers can be prevented with this type of vaccine.
(C) Weakened immune systems are not always able to respond appropriately to the antigen-presenting peptides introduced by vaccines.
(D) It may be more difficult to use in vaccinating large numbers of patients.
(E) HSPs in the HSP60, HSP70, and HSP90 families are not always present in the cells of a patient, preventing their usage in cancer vaccines.

2. The passage suggests which of the following about the manufactured cells mentioned in the underlined text?

(A) They are introduced into the patient’s body to further weaken the patient’s immune system.
(B) They are identical to cancerous cells already present in the patient’s body.
(C) They rely on HSPs to “chaperone” peptides into a position that will stimulate a response from the patient’s immune system.
(D) They are created in a laboratory specifically for each individual cancer patient receiving a viral vector vaccine.
(E) Their peptides are different from those created by the patient’s body in that they operate independently of HSPs.

3. Which of the following best describes the overall content of the second paragraph of the passage?

(A) It describes a type of treatment and compares it to another treatment detailed in the first paragraph.
(B) It describes a method of vaccine production and explains how it is inferior to the method presented in the first paragraph.
(C) It offers a potential solution to a problem inherent in vaccine distribution.
(D) It provides further explanation of the mechanics of a vaccine described in the first paragraph.
(E) It describes the similarities between two types of treatments and explains why one is preferable to the other.

4. Which of the following best describes the function of the first paragraph of the passage?

(A) It presents two opposing views that will be reconciled in the second paragraph.
(B) It attempts to explain the importance of an approach that is superior to the one presented in the second paragraph.
(C) It describes a method that utilizes a contrasting approach to the method explained in the second paragraph.
(D) It provides details of one approach that has been superseded by the approach described in the second paragraph.
(E) It suggests that a technique has the potential to save lives, something also true of the technique mentioned in the second paragraph.

Suggested GMAT Reading Comprehension Samples

• A Conventional View of Nineteenth Century Britain Holds that Iron GMAT Reading Comprehension
• There is Much Talk of a Hydrogen Economy and One Version of that Future GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Juror Anonymity was Unknown to American Common Law and Jurisprudence GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Most Educated People of the Eighteenth Century such as the Founding Fathers GMAT Reading Comprehension
• There Is A Dangerous Tendency In Superficial Analyses GMAT Reading Comprehension
• My Objective Is To Analyze Certain Forms Of Knowledge GMAT Reading Comprehension
• In Eighteenth Century France and England Reformers Rallied Around GMAT Reading Comprehension
• During The Final Decades Of The Nineteenth Century GMAT Reading Comprehension
• There are Other Environmental Problems Connected With Offshore Oil Besides Oil Pollution GMAT Reading Comprehension
• The Use of Heat Pumps has been Held Back Largely by Skepticism About Advertisers GMAT Reading Comprehension
• In Mid February 1917 a Women's Movement Independent of Political Affiliation Erupted GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Gender Based Trends in Labor are Linked to the Ever Changing Concept GMAT Reading Comprehension
• When the History of Women Began to Receive Focused Attention in the 1970 GMAT Reading Comprehension
• In Economics Demand Implies Something Slightly Different from the Common Meaning GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Extraordinary Creative Activity has been Characterized as Revolutionary GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Enduring Beliefs Among Historians GMAT Reading Comprehension
• When Jayne Hinds Bidaut Saw Her First Tintype She Was So Struck By It GMAT Reading Comprehension
• The Historical Basis For The King Arthur Legend Has Long Been Debated GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Almost 12 Million Immigrants Were Processed Through The Immigration GMAT Reading Comprehension
• Political Ideals Must be Based Upon Ideals for the Individual Life GMAT Reading Comprehension